Our Adventures

Yes, we've returned home to our everyday small town quiet existence. :) Now, things are gearing up for our next big adventures this summer. Tomorrow, the boys and I will be going out to the site for the new Kingdom Hall and working on cleaning and excavating. There is about 2 weeks of prep work to do prior to our build dates August 23/24 and 30/31. We've also got a couple days to help prepare and serve meals during the next couple weeks, along with baking some cookies. I'll also be taking lots of pictures and posting them as we progress. In addition to that, I've begun my Typewell transcription training to learn how to live caption for hard of hearing individuals. That is going well and I hope to complete the training by early August. My next countdown will be the ASL District Convention in Dallas. I'm leaving on July 24 and returning home on the 28th. I am soooo looking forward to that! Our District Convention (in English) is once again in Rochester MN August 8-10

Yesterday was another very busy day! So busy that I neglected to blog and instead opted for a soak in the hot tub. But anyway, here's how our day went - We liked the Tick Tock Diner so much on Thursday that we decided to have breakfast there again. The boys were once again filled with their massive breakfast burritos! We then got back on the subway and headed up to the American Museum of Natural History on 81st Street & Central Park West. The museum was incredible!! There was so much to see and read and learn and yet there was so little time and so many school field trip groups and so much noise! We opted to pick and choose what to see based on the map. Not the way I'd like to see a museum, but the best we could do. We saw the dinosaurs, fossils, etc on 4th floor. Sadly, everything had a strong evolutionary theme and it made me realize that the boys should probably read the Creation book when we get home. Nevertheless, it was very cool to see. We also saw the African animal

As Told By Jonathan (aka Mojo) Today, we took the subway to New York City. Then we went to the Tick Tock Diner. I got a huge breakfast burrito with potatoes and orange juice. After we were finished, we walked to B&H (electronics store) to refund dads money because yesterday he bought a new lense for his camcorder but it was fuzzy. Also, James bought a new battery for his camera. next, we went to the pier and bought our tickets for the sightseeing speed boat named The Beast. It went 50 mph. The drivers name was Mad Dog and the attendant/tour guide was Crazy Horse. After 15 minutes, we stopped in front of the Statue of Liberty and took pictures. The whole boat ride, Crazy Horse took out water balloons ans water guns and sprayed the people that he liked as well as some of the people that he didn't like. Anyways, we had fun. Then, we went to Subway. James and I had a turkey sub, dad and Noah had a ham & turkey sub, and mom had a meatball marinara sub. After that, we went on the

Slept a little later today, and headed into the city again to explore. Met a deaf peddler on the PATH train named Alphonse and got to tell him why we were in the city. He was familiar with the Witnesses. Hey, a few minutes of service to start out the day felt good! Ate at a cute little place called the Tick Tock Diner for breakfast on 34th St. After that, we walked down to the Circle Lines tour boats and took a ride on 'the beast' a 30 minute speed boat tour of the NY harbor. Lots of fun!! There was loud music, speed and gruff guys with a fun sense of humor - all the things the boys would enjoy. Next we headed back toward Rockefeller Plaza to go on the NBC Studios Tour. We stopped at Subway and got subs for everyone on the way. I picked up the tickets for the tour at 1:45 and our tour started at 2:15. It was neat, but the real bummer was that no pictures were allowed anywhere on the tour as all the sets are copyrighted. We saw the set for Saturday Night Live, the other sets wer

This morning, we slept in (until about 7AM). We got ourselves together and decided to go into the City. From here at the Newark Marriott, we took the hotel shuttle to the AirTrain station. We boarded an AirTrain to the PATH station (New Jersey's train system). We took the PATH into NYC and arrived at Penn Station. Then, we began to walk. And walk. And walk some more. We went to McDonalds for breakfast just because it was fast, relatively cheap (by NYC standards) and we could sit down. After McDonalds came the question - what should we do now? We decided on the Empire State Building first. At the Empire State Building, we went on a simulated helicopter ride called the Skyride . It was ok but not quite real enough for us. Then we went to the 86 th floor observatory to take pictures and see the sights high above the city. It was incredible how much you could see! Next, we headed over to B&H Photo, the world's largest photo/video store. Shawn got a new lens for his camcor

Early to rise! Today we woke up at 6AM so we could go have breakfast, since it wasn't provided at the hotel. We ended up getting it at the Starbucks drive thru since I was there getting a latte anyway. The boys lamented that 'we could have slept another 1/2 hour' if we were just going to a drive-thru. Oh well.... we had a quick and uneventful drive from Fishkill to Patterson and arrived just before 8AM. The tour started at 8:20 with Phyllis Smith, a sister that has been at Patterson since it opened in 1994. Joining us was Paola and Sergio LeMonaco from Torino, Italy! The just arrived at JFK airport yesterday and after getting lost 4 times made it to Patterson for the first tour of the day with us. What a treat it was to get to know them and learn about the work they are doing in Italy - and lo and behold, Paola's aunt is a Deaf sister who uses Italian Sign Language and attends a sign language congregation there. Patterson 's grounds are beautiful, but there is not n

We got up at about 6AM and started getting ready so we could be at Wallkill about 8AM. Shawn and the boys went down to the hotel restaurant to get breakfast and I ironed shirts and pants and got ready in a male free room! Wallkill was about a 30 minute drive from our hotel in Newburgh and was fairly easy to find thanks to Google. We missed one turn right in the town of Wallkill so had to get directions at the little deli in town. When we arrived, we were able to visit a wonderful display in the lobby about the history of the Watchtower and Awake magazines and the Watchtower organizations radio station WBBR that was in existence in the early days. Very interesting! I also got the "Noah" and "David" DVD in ASL from the literature counter there. So exciting as it's one I don't have! Next, our tour guide Brother Lester Slack came to the lobby to give us the tour of the printery and bindery. Lester has been a member of the Bethel family for over 27 years,

Jonathan (aka Mojo) did the first post from the Detroit airport. We are now in Newburgh, NY @ the Ramada Inn. Unfortunately, the wireless internet is down here so I'm updating quickly from my phone. We arrived safely, but tired. The boys swam & we're getting ready for an early bedtime as we tour the Watchtower Farm & Printery tomorrow morning in Wallkill, NY. We'll talk to you tomorrow! ~ Lynetta, Shawn, Noah, Jonathan & James

at 400 we woke up and arrived at the duluth airport at 450 we left at 610 on the plane this one girl was kinda scared to fly. i read two of my new alex rider books on the plane when we landed we were 35 min. early and another plane was in our spot. dad didnt know that he wasnt supposed to get up and one of the flight attendants spazed at him to stay seated and buckled now its 1000 and we just ordered quiznoes. i got a mesquite chicken with bacon sub its getting cold so im gonna go now L8R Mojo

Only a few more days until we leave for New York. Wow, did that month fly by!! All is going well. I finished my job at the school district of Duluth and will be moving to a job at the University of Wisconsin - Superior in the fall. I'm really looking forward to it as it is only 3 blocks from home. In addition, I completed my interpreting certification test on June 7, so now I just have to wait for results. As of now, it is taking 150+ days to receive the results so I'm willing myself to 'let it go' so I'm not nervous for the next 5 months. Mom had her shoulder surgery yesterday and is doing very well. They found there was more damage than the MRI showed so the Dr. did some repair work and that will cause her to be in her sling longer. He says at least a couple months all total. Time to get going cleaning/packing/last minute planning. Will begin blogging the trip on Sunday, June 15 in the evening. Take care ~Lynetta